The news dropped like a bomb at G-Star 2025: NCSOFT announced Horizon Steel Frontiers, the first MMORPG set in the Horizon universe.
The reveal came with a trailer and a presentation video featuring cinematic scenes and nearly ten minutes of gameplay footage, showing that the goal is to bring the thrill of hunting machines into a massive, persistent experience available on both PC and mobile devices.
In this article, you’ll find everything we know so far: how the game fits into the Horizon universe, platforms and technology, the world and combat design, what changes for fans of the franchise, and what to expect going forward.
What is Horizon Steel Frontiers
Horizon Steel Frontiers is an MMORPG developed through a partnership between NCSOFT and Guerrilla Games, the studio behind the main Horizon games and Killzone.
The goal is to translate the hunting, exploration, and environmental storytelling experience into a massive format where thousands of players share the same frontier.
The official announcement and press materials emphasize large-scale combat, deep combat customization systems, and a continuous open world called Deadlands.
Platforms, model, and technology
NCSOFT confirmed that Steel Frontiers will be cross-platform between PC and mobile, running on PURPLE — NCSOFT’s proprietary platform that connects mobile and PC experiences.
The game has been announced as free-to-play, featuring a single persistent world without the traditional server divisions. There’s no confirmation yet of a PlayStation or console version.
Using the PURPLE platform is a strategic move. NCSOFT has invested for years in infrastructure that unifies PC and mobile gaming, aiming to bring complex games to a wider audience.
For the Horizon universe, that means reimagining gameplay to work smoothly on both large screens and touch controls, while preserving the tactile feeling of hunting and reacting to machine behavior.
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The setting: Deadlands
The central map introduced in the trailer is called Deadlands, described as a frontier inspired by the landscapes of Arizona and New Mexico.
The setting blends vast natural environments, ruins of human structures, and ecosystems dominated by machines of all sizes.
The idea is to preserve the series’ signature aesthetic (stunning landscapes, ancient technology corroded by time, and machines reminiscent of prehistoric fauna) but now scaled up for massive player-driven events.
Deadlands is designed to encourage spontaneous encounters between players. It will feature both traditional MMORPG cooperative activities, such as raids and coordinated hunts, and competitive events where tribes or factions fight for resources and territory.
The tone of the world, judging from early footage, feels more like a survival frontier than a linear narrative, likely promoting player-driven storytelling.
Gameplay and combat: what changes
One of the most discussed aspects of the announcement is the attempt to preserve Horizon’s signature “hunting action” feel within an MMO system.
The trailer and gameplay footage showcase massive battles against mechanical creatures that require coordination between multiple players, mobility tools, and strategic strikes on weak points.
Promised features include customizable combat styles, the ability to harvest machine parts to craft or modify weapons, and systems that allow reusing gear obtained from battles.
Unlike the single-player Horizon games, Steel Frontiers will let players create their own characters, offering freedom in both visual customization and combat builds.
The focus on large-scale battles recalls mechanics from games like Monster Hunter or raid-oriented MMOs, but with Guerrilla’s distinctive machine designs and AI behavior.
The goal is to create memorable encounters: taking down a colossal machine may require dozens or even hundreds of players working together.
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Guerrilla Games’ role and creative collaboration
Guerrilla appears in official materials as a creative partner, with studio members commenting on adapting the universe and ensuring it maintains Horizon’s atmosphere.
Jan-Bart van Beek, Guerrilla’s studio and art director, expressed excitement about the partnership. On NCSOFT’s side, CEO Taek-jin Kim and executive producer Sunggu Lee discussed the vision of bringing the franchise into a massive format and the design choices that guided early development.
Partnerships like this often happen when the IP owner (in this case, Sony/Guerrilla) wants to ensure that its brand identity remains intact.
That doesn’t guarantee that every mechanic or narrative element from the single-player titles will appear, but it does suggest a level of creative oversight that should help preserve the visuals, world design, and lore consistency.
Community reactions and early concerns
Initial reactions from the community and press mix excitement and skepticism. Fans who love the single-player narrative and protagonist Aloy note that Steel Frontiers does not focus on existing characters and may drift away from the personal tone of the main games.
Others celebrate the idea of massive battles and a Horizon game accessible on mobile.
The press and influencers have also raised questions about monetization, in-game economy, and how NCSOFT will balance gameplay between PC and mobile users.
From a technical standpoint, the scale of the promised large-scale encounters introduces challenges in infrastructure, latency, and balancing.
NCSOFT is experienced in developing large-scale online games, but delivering the same visual quality and responsiveness across platforms will be a major test.
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Unanswered questions
The announcement left several important questions open:
- Release date: No official launch window yet.
- Additional platforms: PlayStation and other consoles were not confirmed.
- Monetization model: The game is free-to-play, but there are no details about cosmetics, seasonal passes, or microtransactions.
- Lore integration: It’s still unclear whether the MMO’s events will influence or connect to future single-player Horizon titles.
What to watch next
For those who want to stay up to date, following NCSOFT’s and Guerrilla’s official channels is the best option.
The official website already features the trailer and developer interviews, and information about closed alphas, regional tests, and monetization systems should arrive in the coming weeks. Gaming media outlets and content creators will likely post gameplay analyses and extended interviews with the dev team.
Horizon Steel Frontiers represents an ambitious expansion of the Horizon universe into the MMORPG genre, promising large-scale battles, deep customization, and a persistent open world called Deadlands.
The collaboration between NCSOFT and Guerrilla suggests a careful approach to preserving the franchise’s identity, while NCSOFT’s experience in online infrastructure could help make the game accessible across PC and mobile via PURPLE.
Initial reactions show both excitement and caution. Fans of cooperative online play may find Steel Frontiers an exciting way to experience Horizon’s world with others, while single-player fans may want to wait for more details before getting fully on board.
Either way, this project could redefine how the franchise reaches new audiences, and the next few months of reveals will be crucial to understanding its true scale.
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